abstract FAIRS Cevisama received 78,221 professionals this year and saw a record number of foreign visitors, with nearly 15,000 of them coming from 145 countries. The event, reinforced this year with ceramic machinery, a larger bathroom offering, and a new hall dedicated to kitchen furniture and equipment, attracted the greatest amount of international attendance in the 34 years that it has existed. BigMat Day 2016, held on 30th and 31st March in the Multiuse Pavilion of the Madrid Arena, was highly successful, due to the attendance of 100% of its associates and a large number of their most important customers, the second day, who had the opportunity to carry out operations onsite. This year, the event received over 7,000 visits and turnover increased 14.8% over last year. The 2016 MCE -Mostra Convegno Expocomfort, which took place at the Milan Fair from 15th to 18th March, closed its doors with very positive results. A range of 2,018 companies, 45% of them foreign, representing 55 countries, welcomed 155,332 operators, 39,140 of them foreign, coming from 141 countries, showing an increase of 8% over 2014 and with the share of foreign operators rising to 25% of the total. EVENTS Roca has organised two cycles of meetings aimed at interior designers. Under the name «Interior Design Breakfasts,» the four sessions held from last September until April dealt with different subjects relevant to interior designers and very closely linked to trends in private and public spaces, a key to working in those fields. MARKETS Kitchen Taps Kitchen taps have become more important in recent years. This means increasingly functional proposals, which simplify everyday jobs and make them more comfortable, with different heights, shapes, and accessories such as pull-out spouts, with double functions, with systems for opening by contact, which allow you to get filtered, cold, or boiling water, etc. The variations are also increasingly diverse in terms of design, with finishes that place their bets on colour, beyond the traditional—and dominant—chrome finish. Bathtubs Few elements reflect changing trends in bathroom fittings in recent years better than bathtubs. They have gone from being dominant to becoming practically a minority item, swept away by functionalism, water savings, and the smaller space that showers occupy. Now the bathtub is searching for its place on the market along with one of its differential elements: comfort, relaxation, and an aesthetic appearance that is increasingly valued. The new materials used in manufacturing bathtubs play a decisive role in them, particularly acrylics and, especially, the latest compositions of solid surfaces. Bathroom furniture The enormous variety of models, finishes, sizes, and possibilities for combination of the offer of bathroom furniture is only comparable to the large number of firms present in the sector; after some difficult years, this would seem to confirm the return of profits. Nevertheless, the sector hasn’t made a total recovery, rather it is facing additional challenges besides the purely economic situation—challenges such as the need for differentiation, the vital increase in prices, and consequently, in sales margins, the aggressive price policies of superstores, or the fight against Asian imports. Among other things. Technical Aids for Bathrooms The aging of the population is a reality that no one is arguing about anymore. According to the Spanish National Research Council, in the year 2050, people over the age of 65 will represent 30% of the total population of Spain. There will be over four million octogenarians. 64 SANITARISTA'S
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